WP: Republicans Lost Ground With Latinos In Midterms

[kskiska]

After Gains in 2004, GOP Stumbled on Immigration

Two years ago, Latino voters gravitated in larger-than-ever numbers toward President Bush, the former governor of Texas, a Mexican border state, and his brother Jeb, the loquacious Florida governor who speaks fluent Spanish.

How times have changed.

Pollsters generally agree that the same voters abandoned the president's party in droves during last week's elections, with Latinos giving the GOP only 30 percent of their vote as strident House immigration legislation inspired by Republicans and tough-talking campaign ads by conservative candidates roiled the community. It was a 10-point drop from the lowest estimated Latino vote percentage two years ago, and a 14-point drop from the highest.

(snip)

"I think you have to look at the Republican effort on immigration as a catastrophic mistake in a year when they made many mistakes," said Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, formerly the New Democrat Network. "They now know that the Republican Party is hostile to Hispanics, which is something they didn't know two years ago. That's a big burden for them to overcome."

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/17/AR2006111701641.html

[lcordero2]

1. We (latinos) have known this for the past

100+ years.

[Ms. Clio]

2. A lot of Dems are poised to make the same mistake, however

especially the Dobbsian "populists." In fact, American populism has strong traditions of racism and reflexive anti-immigrant protectionism -- there is absolutely nothing new in any of the arguments or demonizations of today's immigrants -- they reach back to the earliest years of settlement. Ben Franklin believed that the Germans were "unassimilable," and resented German language newspapers and books. "Legal" or "illegal," most Americans have always had a schizophrenic view of the large influx of new ethnic and racial groups.

[Canuckistanian]

3. Gee, ya think?

You'd think they would have wised up in 2004, but with the media trumpeting Bunnypant's "achievements" every hour on the hour, one could see where they could get fooled.

They finally figured out that NO ONE in the Shrub kleptocacy had their interests in mind. And with the recent Minuteman and border security fiascos, they finally put two and two together.

[Up2Late]

4. No Duh!

If anyone needs any proof, you should hear this commantary that was in NPR tonight:

Major Parties Cast About for Ways to Attract Latinos

Listen to this story...(at link above)
by Daniel Hernandez

All Things Considered, November 17, 2006 · This week, Sen. Mel Martinez was named as
chairman of the Republican National Committee. His appointment
is meant to draw more Latinos to the GOP.
But commentator Daniel Hernandez says that kind of thinking
shows that while the Republicans -- and the Democrats --
want more Latino voters, they don't really understand how to attract them.

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6504054>

[USA_1]

5. It's Not Just Immigration ...

... continued loss of good paying jobs, erosion of standard of living, unabated police harassment of innocent citizens who are driving-while-brown, and use of Hispanics as cannon fodder in Iraq. I suggest that these factors are far more significant to Hispanics and has impacted on why they are not voting Republican anymore.